The Ashes

Image source, Getty Images

Joe Root kept England afloat on day one of the second Ashes Test with his brilliant 135 not out.

It rescued England from 5-2 and an unbroken last-wicket partnership of 61 with Jofra Archer dragged the tourists to 325-9 at the close.

But did Ben Stokes make the right decision in not declaring?

It is often said the pink ball used in day-night Tests is most difficult to face when new under the lights and if England had declared when their ninth wicket fell they would have had 30 minutes to bowl at Australia in ideal conditions.

"The strategy of day-night Tests is you want to bowl under lights with the new ball," former Australia bowler Glenn McGrath told the BBC's Daily Ashes Debrief.

"He [Stokes] will have thought Jofra wasn't going to last.

"As it turned out Australia bowled pretty poorly. They didn't bowl real good bouncers, didn't mix the pace up."

Former England captain Michael Vaughan backed Stokes' decision to bat on, however.

"When Jofra Archer went out there he was told to launch," Vaughan said. "When he hit a few you say 'keep going'.

"If England can bat for 20 or 30 minutes [on day two] you take the game a bit deeper, the pink ball will be a bit harder [in Australia's innings] when the twilight comes.

"Those runs are invaluable. It buys you a bit more time in the second innings."

Image source, Getty Images

Australia's attack in the second Ashes Test is their "worst since 2010-11" and is "really second division" if you exclude Mitchell Starc, says BBC's chief cricket commentator Jonathan Agnew.

Left-armer Starc, who took 10-113 in the first Test win in Perth, delivered again on day one in Brisbane with 6-71.

Despite that England posted 325-9 with Joe Root hitting his elusive first century in Australia with an unbeaten 135.

Australia are without premier pace bowlers Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood through injuries and they opted to leave spinner Nathan Lyon, the seventh-most successful Test bowler in history, out of their XI for the day-night Test.

Starc has been joined by seamers Scott Boland, Brendan Doggett and Michael Neser.

Boland has been Australia's reserve bowler in recent years and averages an impressive 18.01 in 16 Tests, but Doggett only made his debut in the first Test and Neser, who is playing in his third Test, is included for the first time since December 2022.

"The bowling attack of Australia's is the worst I've seen since 2010-11," said Agnew.

"Mitchell Starc is brilliant, a world-class bowler. The rest of it is really second division and it looked it [on day one]. It's not what they are used to doing.

"You could say that was the case for Perth as well.

"We know Australia are vulnerable, their batting and bowling is vulnerable and that's what was frustrating about Perth."

England batter Harry Brook has "too many clubs in the bag", according to former captain Michael Vaughan.

Brook was aggressive from the outset after coming to the crease with England 122-3 in the second Test in Brisbane.

He was then dismissed driving the second ball of Mitchell Starc's first over in the twilight period.

England's World Cup winner Alex Hartley said she thought Brook, who made 31, was "stupid".

Speaking on BBC Sport Daily Ashes Debrief, Vaughan, who captained England to victory in 2005, said: "I think you are right. He has so much talent, even the ramp shot.

"He has almost got too many clubs in the bag. He has about 25. He is a different style of player but Joe [Root] played three or four shots. Harry has got 360.

"If his defence was poor I would encourage him to be a bit more aggressive. He has all of the time in the world. He sees the ball too big.

"If he is facing a [Michael] Neser or [Brendan] Doggett and the ball is not doing a great deal."

Image source, Getty Images

The West Australian newspaper has been able to see the funny side of Joe Root's brilliant unbeaten hundred on day one of the second Ashes Test in Brisbane.

The paper described Root as "Average Joe" before the series because he had never scored a Test century down under in 14 Tests.

Their front page on Friday carried the headline "he's not bad after all".

It also began with the sentence "England's greatest batter - whose ability to perform in this Ashes series was never doubted by anyone - has conquered his Australian hoodoo".

Image source, Getty Images

Joe Root's century on day one of the second Ashes Test has taken England to an above-par score in the first innings, says former captain Michael Vaughan.

Root scored a sensational 135 not out to keep England afloat in Brisbane and ensure they reached 325-9 at the close.

Having come in at 5-2, Root put on 117 with Zak Crawley, 54 with Harry Brook and then crucially 61 unbroken with Jofra Archer for the final wicket.

While the average first-innings score in day-night Tests in Australia is 346, that drops to 295 in the three Tests held at the Gabba.

"England can't win without him," Vaughan said.

"He has got England to that 325. It is beyond par on that wicket with the pink ball."

Image source, Getty Images

Australia were not playing games with England over the availability of captain Pat Cummins before the second Test, says selector George Bailey.

Fast bowler Cummins is recovering from a back injury and though he was not included in their squad for the second in Brisbane, the hosts left the door open for a late inclusion on the eve of the match.

The 32-year-old was seen in conversation and sharing an embrace with coach Andrew McDonald on Thursday, leading to speculation he could return.

"Once we got up here, saw his training, got as much of the background medical information as well, it became a live possibility," Bailey said.

"Then it was just working through the permutations of what would that look like in terms of the amount of overs, what would it look like going forward from that as well.

"I don't think we thought he was going to be as close, it really changed through the week. Then risk tolerance became the conversation around what could he take on."

Image source, Getty Images

All-rounder Beau Webster has been released from Australia's Test squad to play against England Lions in a four-day match starting on Friday.

The 32-year-old was left out of Australia's squad for the second Ashes Test with batter Josh Inglis preferred but will get a chance to push his case for a recall.

Webster is one of six capped players in a strong Australia A side. Bowler Jhye Richardson, spinner Todd Murphy, batters Matt Renshaw and Nathan McSweeney plus all-rounder Cooper Connolly are also in the XI.

Batter Jacob Bethell and spinner Shoaib Bashir were also added to England Lions' squad following their omission from the Test side.

Australia A XI: Matthew Renshaw, Campbell Kellaway, Nathan McSweeney (c), Cooper Connolly, Beau Webster, Josh Philippe (wk), Xavier Bartlett, Fergus O'Neill, Jhye Richardson, Todd Murphy, Ryan Hadley